


One More Breath

by Itsmarvelous



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Asthma, Asthma attack, Canon, Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hyperventilating, McDonald's, Medical Inaccuracies, Medication, Panic, Panic Attacks, Secrets, Shotaro-centric, inhaler, mama parking lot, sungchan-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:54:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28358079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itsmarvelous/pseuds/Itsmarvelous
Summary: Shotaro has asthma, and the cold, dusty air of the MAMA parking lot isn't helping.Or... Shotaro has an asthma attack, but the only person who knows he has asthma is Sungchan.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 272





	One More Breath

Even though he hadn’t needed it in years, Shotaro still carried his inhaler at all times.

It was a promise he’d made to his mom before leaving for Korea. It was a simple ask, but it eased some of her worries, so Shotaro never left the dorm without it.

Since his symptoms had improved exponentially over the years, he’d let his guard down, but not enough to be reckless. While his mind wasn’t as focused on avoiding dust and pollen, he still made sure to wear extra protective masks on days where his asthma could be easily triggered.

Because of this, the only person he’d ever told about his asthma was Sungchan. They were roommates, so it made sense. With his roommate knowing, he wouldn’t have to worry about hiding his inhaler, and if he ever woke up with the rare but not forgotten feeling of restricted air, Sungchan would know what was going on. So, there was no need to worry the rest of the group if it was possibly something they’d never even have to worry about.

Shotaro honestly believed his asthma was behind him. It was a thing he had to deal with in the past, and while it had scared him, it’s been  _ years _ since his last asthma attack. 

If his lungs ever decided to crap out again, he thought it would be something he could handle on his own, and if it wasn’t, Sungchan could help.

Everything would be fine, really.

~~~~~

He’d spoken too soon.

Honestly, why did MAMA think it was a good idea to have Idols waiting outside in a parking lot surrounded by cold, dusty air. If the situation was different, Shotaro would’ve been enjoying himself endlessly. However, his biggest asthma trigger was dust, and the cold only made everything a thousand times worse.

He was thankful for the mask on his face that attempted to filter the dust from the outside air, but he could feel the early signs of an asthma attack slowly filling his lungs.

A tightness was steadily filling his chest, and each breath was starting to feel more labored. He knew he needed to take deep breaths while his airways were still free, but breathing in the chilly, dust-filled air was only making everything worse. 

Shotaro loosened the highest button of his shirt and pulled slightly at the collar. He knew pulling at the neck of his clothes wasn’t really going to help, but it was better than nothing.

‘Where is my bag? I need my bag.’

His mind was occupied by thoughts solely focused on finding his inhaler. He knew it was in a van, but all their vans looked exactly the same, and they were all lined up side by side. He wouldn’t be able to retrieve it on his own, not when his asthma attack was acting up so fast. 

Shotaro silently pleaded for the growing constriction of his airways to simply go away, but he knew from experience that that wouldn’t work.

It’s not like he could just start coughing either, not while standing in the middle of an overcrowded parking lot during a pandemic. Taking deep breaths was slowly becoming impossible, and the chilly air wasn’t helping improve his condition. Soon, the only thing he could think about was the feeling of a hand squeezing his lungs as his airways crumpled, making it impossible to get air. 

He had been standing in a small circle with Johnny, Lucas, and Mark, but excused himself suddenly. His attempts to mask his deteriorating health must’ve been successful, seeing as his hyungs barely noticed anything wrong as he said a breathless goodbye. 

Shotaro needed to find Sungchan.

He couldn’t deal with this attack on his own.

The younger was found chatting with Jungwoo, Taeyong, and Doyoung, just a few feet away. Shotaro greeted his hyungs with a smile, then leaned in close to Sungchan’s side. While attempting to whisper, he grabbed Sungchan’s attention before even speaking. Shotaro’s breath was becoming wheezy, and Sungchan quickly failed at hiding his slightly widened eyes as he realized what must’ve been going on.

“Can you help me for a bit?”

Sungchan nodded quickly, then didn’t wait a second before turning to their hyungs to excuse them from the conversation. Shotaro quickly grabbed his hand and led them towards the closest van. 

Their quick departure made them miss the confused eyes of their hyungs.

While everyone knew it could take some time for the two new members to become as close with the group as they were with each other, the duo had never whispered so secretly before. When they left, Jungwoo, Taeyong, and Doyoung, all shared a confused expression.

“That was weird”

Without missing a beat, Doyoung and Taeyong agreed.

~~~~~

Once they reached the van, Sungchan pulled open the door. He guided the older to sit in a middle seat and leaned towards him from across the aisle.

Shotaro’s breath was getting thinner and thinner with every attempt to breathe. His airways were continuing to close without remorse, making Shotaro feel like he was inches away from drowning.

The dancer wanted to fold over, but Sungchan kept a hand on his shoulders to keep him sitting upright. The younger had read up on what to do if Shotaro ever did have an asthma attack, and he’d found sitting up straight to be a very important step.

“What’s going on?”

A concerned voice sounded from the backseat, drawing Sungchan’s attention to Jaemin. The older had a concerned look in his eyes and quickly dropped his forgotten phone beside him. 

“Asthma attack.”

“He has asthma? Where’s his inhaler?”

Jaemin couldn’t hide his disbelief, but quickly started moving to crouch in front of Shotaro anyways.

“Try to stay calm, okay. Take as deep of a breath as you can, you'll be alright. Do you remember where you put your inhaler? Do you have it here?”

Jaemin had a hand on Shotaro’s knee and spoke to him in a calm voice. With much effort, Shotaro managed to wheeze out simple words. 

“It’s in my- my bag.”

His sentence was accompanied by a labored breath, and Jaemin and Sungchan were beginning to realize how little time they’d have before this could get really bad. Shotaro tried to speak again, but all that escaped his mouth were deep coughs.

“Do you know what van he was in?”

Sungchan shook his head, and his eyes soon mirrored Jaemin’s worried expression as the two realized they’d have to check all five vans for Shotaro’s yellow bag.

“Stay with him, check this van. I’ll check the others.”

Sungchan nodded with determination as Jaemin pulled open the van door, a quick breeze of cold air filled the space before leaving just as fast. Sungchan quickly looked through the trunk and backseat for Shotaro’s bag but knew he’d have to be extremely lucky to find it that easy. 

When he returned to his seat, Shotaro was barely breathing. Instead, he was mostly coughing and wheezing. His eyes were watering, and it seemed like he wanted nothing more than for his constricting airways to ease long enough to take one simple breath. 

It couldn’t be that easy though, the only thing that could help now was his inhaler.

~~~~~

As soon as Jaemin left the van, he practically ran towards Renjun and Jeno. 

The two were mid-conversation, but Jaemin didn’t bother much with manners as he interrupted them.

“Can you help me find Shotaro’s bag, he needs his inhaler.”

“He has asthma?” Renjun had the same expression of disbelief Jaemin wore mere minutes ago.

“Yes. His bag’s yellow, and it’s in one of the vans.”

Noting the seriousness of Jaemin’s tone, the trio quickly set to searching.

The first and second van they checked left them empty-handed, but the third held the very important yellow bag squished between the two backseats. Renjun quickly opened the pocket, and haphazardly dumped all its contents on the seat. 

It contained the usual assortment of necessities, ranging from a pack of gum to a stick of deodorant, and finally, the incredibly sought after inhaler.

Renjun tossed the inhaler to Jaemin and watched as his fellow Dream member wasted no time before running back to Shotaro. Renjun carefully returned Shotaro’s belongings to his bag and noted Taeyong walking towards him as he left the van himself.

~~~~~

By the time Jaemin had returned with Shotaro’s inhaler, the younger’s lips were starting to turn blue. 

Shotaro felt helpless as his airways became seconds away from closing, and dreaded the elephant's weight weighing down on his chest with every attempt to breathe. He was practically crushing Sungchan’s hand as his panic grew, and the only thing that kept him from blacking out was Sungchan’s unusually calming voice maintaining a steady stream of comforting words.

There was nothing either could do without the inhaler, so when the door finally flew open, Sungchan released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Jaemin quickly got in the van and proceeded to crouch down in front of Shotaro as he fumbled with the inhaler in his hands. Jeno had gone around to the other side of the van to give Jaemin and Shotaro some space and ended up sitting down beside Sungchan.

Jaemin finally held the inhaler to Shotaro’s lips and pressed down. For the first time in what felt like forever, Shotaro took a shaky,  _ full _ breath with the help of medication loosening his airways.

Jaemin pressed down on the inhaler again, and the entire van felt a weight leave their shoulders as color returned to Shotaro’s face. The boy in question had finally taken a real breath, even if it was broken by a cough.

Shotaro nodded in thanks as Jaemin handed him the inhaler, and continued breathing until his breath finally seemed to stop hitching. After a few minutes, he finally tried to speak.

“I’m sorry for… for that.”

Jaemin reached up and ruffled Shotaro’s hair, which earned a weak laugh from the younger.

“That was terrifying, please never do that again.”

Shotaro smiled as he wiped a hand across his watery eyes. “I’ll try, can’t make any promises though.”

Their attention was drawn to the opening of the van door, and the members watched as Taeyong sat down in the passenger seat and turned to face Shotaro.

“Renjun said you had an asthma attack.”

The leader’s eyes were full of concern, and Shotaro wanted to quickly ease his worry.

“I’m okay now though, really.”

His voice still sounded a little wheezy, so he took another puff of his inhaler.

“See, all good.”

Shotaro sported a convincing smile as he addressed Taeyong, but the leader didn’t let the conversation end there.

“Why didn’t we know you had asthma?”

Shotaro dropped his eyes, then glanced towards his roommate.

“Sungchan knew.”

“What if something had happened when Sungchan wasn’t there, though? None of us would’ve known how to help you, and it would’ve been dangerous.”

Taeyong wasn’t angry, but Shotaro was starting to feel guilty.

“I’m sorry.” The younger said sincerely, then tried to explain some more. “I haven’t had to use my inhaler in years, so I thought it was something I didn’t have to worry about anymore.”

Taeyong nodded in understanding and quickly reassured the younger that he didn’t need to apologize. He did, however, have a few more questions.

“What was it then? That triggered the asthma, I mean.”

“The dust mostly, the cold didn’t help though.”

Taeyong nodded, and you could almost see him making a mental note in his head.

“I’ll make sure to ask the managers if we can add some spare inhalers to our first aid kits and practice rooms. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Taeyong reached back to squeeze Shotaro’s knee, and the younger nodded gratefully.

“You’re feeling better now though, right?”

Shotaro nodded, “Yeah, I’m feeling better.”

“Okay, good.” Taeyong said with a smile, “Because the members were asking if we could sneak off to McDonald’s, and I really want to say yes. Are you up for it?”

Shotaro laughed and quickly nodded his head. “Of course.”

“Then let’s go!”

Jaemin, Jeno, Sungchan, and Shotaro, all voiced their approval, but before the newest additions of NCT left the van, Taeyong stopped them. 

The leader’s eyes turned a little more serious as he tried to figure out how to voice his thoughts to the two young members sitting behind him. Taeyong had only been their leader for a few months, but he couldn’t imagine this comeback, or the future of NCT without them.

“You two know you can trust us, right?”

Shotaro and Sungchan both nodded with smiles, and their answers mirrored each other.

“Yeah, we know.”

"Good." Taeyong returned their smiles, then opened the van door. Shotaro and Sungchan followed, and they all quickly joined the ever-growing group of NCT members as they lined up for their impromptu trip to McDonald’s.

Taeyong quickly counted everyone, but returned to Shotaro after reaching 23.

“You still have your inhaler, right? Just in case?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Alright then,” he said as he wrapped an arm around Shotaro’s shoulders. “Let’s go get some chicken nuggets!”

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god, I think this is kinda bad though, but like, I wanted to write something, so here you go! I might come back and edit it more later, but I hope you liked it!
> 
> Also, I can't for the life of me remember the difference between Breathe and Breath when writing, so thanks spell check cause without you I'd be screwed<3


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